Lifetime
by J-awesomeness
Summary: Leonard wants to be famous, but he doesn't want to be a star.


**Age 5:** He didn't want to go to school. Really, who did? Mrs. Chalm was the meanest first grade teacher you could ever imagine. Some people said she skipped addition and subtraction to go straight to division. Long division. Also, and this is a fact, she finds out who you hate (and that really isn't hard to discover in first grade) and sits you right next to them. Which, for Leonard McCoy, meant he'd probably have to sit next to the snobby girl with the perfect curls and tailor-made dresses.

But of course, he woke up that day to the most soothing voice he had ever heard. His mother was calling him down for breakfast. She had made her special 'first day of school' meal, complete with french toast, bacon, and homemade blueberry muffins. Leonard wore his blue and white striped button-down shirt, his new jeans, and the latest shoes that every kid wanted. His hair was combed, his teeth were glistening, his backpack stuffed. And the whole time he was getting ready, all he could think about was how this year was going to be rough.  
He walked in the room with one of his friends from his neighborhood who looked just as tired and grim as he did. As soon as he went past those doors to the classroom, he felt trapped in the loss of summer, and the start of school.

Just to make matters worse, he was already sitting next to Jocelyn, the girl who was spoiled and perfect in everyone's eyes but his.

**Age 10: **Leonard McCoy felt that he was different. All of the other kids in his class could only think of the latest songs and movies, the fight that was supposed to happen between the two most popular guys in school, and how nobody wanted to shop at GAP anymore. All he could think about was how his mother suddenly got way too emotional and how he was nervous that by the time he was in high school he still wouldn't know what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Also, he couldn't help but think about how Jocelyn was no longer that girl he hated at age five. Now she was a regular girl, buying clothes from Justice and Deliah's because her daddy lost his job and they weren't rich anymore. He felt bad for her, but it was good that it happened. Now she couldn't just rely on money for everything, she actually had to try.

And yeah, he might seem a little deep and mature for his age, but there's really nothing else to do but think when you live in the middle of nowhere with just trees, cows, and old people for company. Why his best friend had to move, he still didn't know.

**Age 14:** One year until high school, the big school, the ultimate transformation. Just about every week a guest speaker would come in for homeroom and try to give enough of an idea of high school before those short twenty minutes were over. He decided to be a doctor, like his father and his uncle. It's a smart profession and he'll feel like he's helping the world. Maybe if he gets really good and has a private practice, he'll help out poor African children or help the people struck by a natural disaster.

Leonard wants to be famous, but he doesn't want to be a star.

Jocelyn decided she wants to be a lawyer. And hell, she could do that and more. She's the only girl that ever shut McCoy up, the only girl that got an 'A' on a paper that deserved a 'C' because she just couldn't handle the weight of her mother's tears on her shoulders. Boy, did the teachers eat that up like a dog feasting on steak. She didn't even have to worry about kids telling her off or kids saying that what she was doing just wasn't fair. Jocelyn was the prettiest and most popular girl in the school. If kids didn't like her, she wouldn't be that way.

**Age 16:** His dad was a drunk. A stupid, idiotic, better-than-this drunk. A doctor, too, but that didn't change a thing. He had a rough day at the hospital, a bus crashed into the side of a house. You can only imagine the type of injuries he saw.

So on his way home, he decided that a drink wouldn't be too bad. His dad got in the family car, speeding at one hundred miles per hour in a school zone. Trees looked farther away than one would've expected, and before he could count to three, he had bashed into the windshield which unfortunately crashed into a tree.

_Mrs. McCoy, I'm so sorry. But he just couldn't make it._

Tears came, and all falling the same speed his dad had gone.

Jocelyn came to the funeral, dressed in a nice black dress that would've caught McCoy's eyes had he not been in such grief.

_Leo, I'm really sorry. Your dad was a great man and all your tears prove it. This is a really hard day for you, I'm sure. But just remember everything your dad did for you. I hope it helps. _Jocelyn walked away gracefully, embarrassingly. She blushed at what she said since really, they sounded so stupid and rough in her ears. She could only imagine how they sounded to McCoy.

But they sounded beautiful to McCoy, eye opening, marveling. He wanted Jocelyn to come back and keep telling him anything she could think of.

**Age 18:** Graduation day. He saw the faces of his girlfriends over the years, his enemies, his friends. Most importantly, he saw the face of her. The only girl he ever truly wanted. Jocelyn.

She smiled and met his eye, her slightly jagged teeth gleaming with the help of the sun. He smiled back, waiting for the ceremony to be over so he could talk to her. She knew how he felt about her and felt the same way. But she refused to go out with him until he made a move. And even though it was foolproof, McCoy felt like the right time never came.

But maybe with a diploma in her hand and the rush of no longer being held captive in the high school would be the right time. And even if it wasn't, he refused to walk out of the school grounds single.

**Age 20:** Somehow they were both in the same college, and McCoy was still wondering about that. Well, he was wondering in all the free time he tried to get.

He had to study because medicine was always progressing. He had homework ranging from essays to packets to projects. He had 'Bs' in all of his classes but promised his mom that he'd get at least two 'As'. And really, he can't just go around breaking promises to his mother.

Jocelyn had an equal amount of 'Bs' and 'As' and she was as happy as could be with herself. All her teachers said she'd be a great lawyer that the president would even be interested in. Her parents were proud as anything, and McCoy's always told her that she's perfect.

Somehow, even with all the studying and papers and just trying to stay alive while at college, the couple still managed to find time for each other. And with the little time they had, they made it last somehow. They set aside all their worries and just fall into a love coma.

**Age 22:** McCoy can't get enough of graduation days. He has a ring with him, and like any gentleman, he asked Jocelyn's parents if he could marry her. Without any hesitation they said yes, because he's got such southern charm they can't help themselves.

They're in each other's arms and Jocelyn's curly red-brown hair is shining in the sunlight. Her eyes are tearing up from joy and she's smiling so radiantly that people from a mile away could see the brightness. He gets down on one knee and now Jocelyn's laughing her beautiful laugh, tears actually flowing because she can't believe how surreal this day feels.

_Jocelyn, will you marry me?_ He smiles and his eyes are so incredibly bright and hopeful looking.

She doesn't respond, just takes the ring and puts it on her finger. McCoy quickly plans out an 'I love you' speech but she stops him with a kiss that makes everyone around them smile and feel happy for them.

Both of them just can't stop thinking about how perfect their life is going to be.

**Age 24: **They have a one year old baby girl whom they name Joanna. She's got her mother's eyes and hair, her father's face. People at parks ooh and ahh at her, looking at her like she's the eighth wonder of the world.

They're proud parents of a gorgeous girl but part of Jocelyn feels the relationship breaking.

McCoy's always at work, saving lives and studying, helping out the interns and giving tours to board members so they can see how everything's going. When he comes home, he drinks and researches some more. He may save lives but he doesn't save time for his family. Jocelyn hired a nanny for when they're both at work. She's top lawyer and everyone's jealous. She hasn't lost a case yet and she doesn't plan on losing one soon. She may study harder than everyone else, but once she comes home, she goes straight to Joanna.

She and Leonard barely even talk.

**Age 26:** He signs the divorce papers furiously and hastily. It may have been his idea, but it was Jocelyn's idea to cheat on him. They already had the argument about who keeps what, and Leonard was highly unfortunate. He doesn't get to see Joanna anymore, he has to move, almost all of his money was taken, and he has to deal with the fact that his coworker was with his wife.

And not just any coworker, but the coworker whom he had felt closest to. Now all he felt was betrayal and hatred.

There wasn't much left to be said to Jocelyn other than words that he didn't want to expose to Joanna. So there he sat quietly in court, in the kitchen, in the living room, everywhere.

And eventually, he said those words. He said those words to himself once he left.

**Age 27:** He was best friends with a man named James Kirk, and that James insisted on being called Jim. But since Jim called Leonard the name Bones, he figured he'd call Jim the nickname Kid. They had a system of things: Bones would be in the dorm whenever he could during the day, and he would migrate to the library or a friend's dorm at night; Jim would be at the dorm whenever he had a girl who was willing to go with him, and otherwise he would be flirting on campus.

The classes were great, but Bones had to admit he was sick of it all. He already knew three quarters of the things they learned. Chop up that, hypo this, poke there. After awhile, it all started to blend in, but he still got straight A's. This time, though, his mother didn't care. Why should she be proud of him acing a test on something he should've aced years ago?

**Age 30: **So much happened to Bones over three years. He had two girlfriends that lasted a good amount (What could he say? An older, smarter guy was bound to have a girlfriend in time.).

Suddenly, he was on the Enterprise, saving Vulcan's lives and trying to help Kirk out in some way. He and Spock didn't get along, and he never had any time to really talk to anyone else on the ship.

A lot of people died on the ship but even more died on Vulcan. Tears weren't shed by any of them, but in the Sick Bay Bones could practically feel all their sadness clumping into one giant pool of invisible tears.

**Age 31:** Most of the crazy had died down, and they had no more ceremonies to attend. Jocelyn tried to get him back, crying apologies for the idiotic mess she made. He eagerly turned her down, a mile wide smile on his face when she went home feeling lousy. It was about time.

He was better friends with Spock and attended the weekly poker nights with Scotty (Man, he knew how to throw a poker game.), and usually went down to the Bridge to hang with Kirk and everyone else.

For the first time in his life, everything was going perfectly. It only took him 30 years to find out that space wasn't so bad.

* * *

Um. Yeah. I dunno, I just love something about the relationship between Bones and Jocelyn. haha.

I hope you liked the story, please review(:


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